Garment de-linting method



Sept. 17, 1968 T. P. JOHNSON 3,402,076

GARMENT DE-L INT ING METHOD Filed Sept. 18, 1964 ,3 THODORE JOHNSON /NVE N 70/? M M f A TTORNEVS 3,402,076 GARMENT DE-LINTING METHOD TheodoreP. Johnson, Visalia, Calif., assignor of fifty percent to E. C.Presthus, Tulare, Calif. Filed Sept. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 397,557 3Claims. (Cl. 134-25) The present invention relates to a garmentde-linting method and more particularly to a method for bringing clothgarments into repeated contact with an adherent surface to raise the napof the garments and to remove lint and other foreign objects therefrom.

In the cleaning and finishing of cloth garments, the removal of lintand/or other extraneous matter, such as threads and the like representsa major portion of the direct labor costs. Prior to this invention,there has been no dependable mechanical method of accomplishing suchremoval from garments in bulk lots. The conventional method has been toresort to tedious brushing, by hand, of the individual articles.Hand-operated devices have been found to be satisfactory to a degree foran individual wearer of clothes. However, such devices are ineflicientfrom the viewpoint of direct labor costs, and hence not practical forcommercial use.

Concomitant with the problem of lint removal is that of napping thegarment fabric. Any device which can simultaneously accomplish bothobjects will obviously afford further time savings. Prior to thisinvention, there has been no such dual-purpose machine.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a garmentde-linting method which can effectively de-lint the cloth fabric of aquantity of cloth garments.

Another object is to provide such a method which simultaneously raisesthe nap of the cloth fabric, while removing lint and the like therefrom.

Another object is to provide such a method which can accommodate aquantity of cloth garments in bulk.

Another object is to provide such a method which can accomplish suchlint removal and nap finishing expeditiously with a minimum of manualmanipulation.

Another object is to provide such a method employing an apparatuscontaining a minimum number of working parts and requiring onlysimplified and economical maintenance procedures.

These, together with other objects, will become more fully apparent uponreference to the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the garment finishing apparatus employedin the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in vertical, transverse section of the apparatusemployed in the method of the present invention taken in a planerepresented by line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door hinge of theapparatus and structural details permitting replacement of the adherentliner employed therein for removal of lint and finishing of the nap ofgarments.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the garment de-lintingapparatus employed in the method of the present invention is showngenerally in FIG. 1 and provides a cylindrical drum 10 mounted forrotation n a supporting frame 11. An electric motor 12 is mounted on theframe for imparting rotational movement to the drum at a predeterminedspeed of rotation. A garment access, or door, opening 13 is provided forthe drum, as well as a hinged door 14 mounted for pivotal movementbetween open and closed positions.

The drum 10 is formed by two circular end walls 20 rigidlyinterconnected and held in parallel relation by a series of elongatedparallel rib members 21. The opposite nited States Patent 3,402,076Patented Sept. 17, 1968 "ice ends of the rib members are rigidly securedat their respective opposite ends to one of the end walls by anysuitable means, such as welding, indicated at 22. A flexible retainingside wall 23 encloses the rib members, to form a fractionallycylindrical enclosure, which defines the access opening 13, inconjunction with the end walls 20. The side wall 23 is removably securedto the end Walls by a series of suitable quick-disconnect fasteners, as,for instance, the spring-biased latches 24. Each of these latches ispivotally mounted on the end walls by a respective pin 25 to permitready assembly and disassembly of the side wall relative to the endwalls.

The interior surface of the side wall 23 is covered with a removableadherent member, such as the membrane 30. It has been found practical toemploy a continuous Sheet of material, having only one side adherent,for the membrane 30. Material such as commercially available adhesivecloth tape, masking tape, or tacky cellophane tape has been found to besatisfactory. Other suitable materials should occur to those skilled inthe art.

One end of the membrane 30 is anchored to a rib member 21 adjacent toone end of the access opening 13 and extended about the periphery of thedrum to the rib member adjacent to the other end of the opening 13,circumferentially spaced from the first. In this manner a readilyreplaceable tacky, adherent inner surface is provided for the drum inthe nature of a removable shell, and thereby permits periodic renewal ofsuch adherent surface.

Depending upon the speed of rotation of the drum 10 and the exteriorsurface of the garments. placed within the drum, the adherent innersurface of the membrane 30 is normally sufiicient to promote a tumblingof the garments within the drum, thereby to provide access by theadherent surface to substantially all of the area of the exteriorsurface of the garments. Accordingly, lint will be removed from thegarments and the nap of the garments exterior surface raised, which isdesirable from an aethestic point of view. To insure such tumbling ofthe garments during drum rotation, the rib members 21 are of apredetermined radial dimension, which thereby provides a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced vanes available to contact the garments duringdrum rotation. Consequently, the rib members, as such vanes, enhance thetumbling action of the adherent surface of the membrane 30.

The door 14 is pivotally mounted between the end walls 20 by means ofdowel hinges 35 received in suitable pilot holes 36 provided in each ofthe end walls. The latch 37 is secured to the door .and includes anoperating handle adapted to facilitate movement of the door between aclosed position, shown in FIG. 2, and an open position, shown in dashedlines in FIG. 1. With the door in the closed position, the drum providesan internal chamber 38 adapted to receive a quantity of garments, one ofwhich is shown at 39.

The drum 10 is mounted on the frame 11 for rotation about asubstantially horizontal axis to insure appropriate tumbling of thegarments disposed within the internal chamber 38. Stated differently,the drum movement agitates the garment within the chamber to effect acontacting of substantially all of the exterior surface of the garment39 with the adherent inner surface of the membrane 30 lining the drum.

For rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, the drum issupported on aligned oppositely axially extended shafts 40 projectingoutwardly from respective end walls 20 and journaled within a respectiveone of a pair of bearings 41 carried by the frame. For powered rotationof the drum and consequent agitation of the garments, one of the shafts40 is extended beyond its bearing and provided with a positive drivecoupling member 42. The coupling member 42 is driven by a suitableoutput shaft 43 rotatably mounted in a speed reduction gear housing 44and driven by a shaft 45 of the motor 12. A conventional power sourceand control switch, not shown, is provided for selective operation ofthe motor 12 and consequent rotation of the drum 20.

The operation of the described embodiment of the subject invention isbelieved to be readily apparent and is briefly summarized at this point.The drum is constructed of a size to accommodate the desired quantity ofgarments to be finished in a single batch. Commercial dry cleaningoperations have indicated that an eight pound load of clothes is apractical batch load. Accordingly, it has been found to be quiteeffective to employ a drum having an axial length of eighteen inches anda diameter of two feet. A drum construction according to thesedimensions effectively accommodates a six to eight pound load of clothgarments, depending upon the type of garment and their respective bulk.

Following cleaning of the garments by any suitable method, the garments39 are deposited within the chamber 38 through the access opening 13 byappropriate movement of the door 14 to an open position. Subsequently,the door is closed and the control switch of the motor 12 moved to anoperating position to effect rotation of the drum 10 and agitation ofthe clothes therein.

In the form of the invention illustrated, rotation of the drum 10 aboutits substantially horizontal ,axis causes a tumbling of the garmentswithin the chamber 38 due to the interaction of the adherent surface ofthe membrane 30 and the rib members 21 acting as agitation vanes.Consequently, substantially all of the exterior surface of the garments39 is exposed to the adherent surface of the membrane 30 during drumrotation.

This rotation is continued until lint and other extraneous matter isremoved from the exterior surface of the garments and the nap has beenfinished to a desired degree. The duration of the operation cycle willvary according to the quantity of garments and the type of material,however, it has been found that a normal operating cycle extends fromapproximately three minutes to approximately ten minutes. The motor isthen de-energized and the garments removed through the access opening 13by appropriate movement of the door 14.

After prolonged use by successive batches of garments, the adherentsurface of the membrane 30 becomes saturated with lint and otherextraneous matter removed from the garments and approaches a point ofineflicient operation. At this time, the adherent surface of the drum 10must be renewed so that the apparatus can resume effective lint removaland garment finishing.

To achieve this surface renewal, the flexible side wall 23 is firstdisassembled from the drum by appropriate unlatching of the springlatches 24. Access to the membrane 30 is thereby permitted so that theopposite ends of the membrane are removed from the rib members 21adjacent to the access opening 13. A replacement membrane 30 is thenanchored to one of such rib members and drawn circumferentially aboutthe drum in engagement with the rib members circumferentially spacedthereabout and anchored to those rib members on opposite sides of theaccess opening 13. The side wall 23 is then reassembled to the drum toprovide a flexible, side wall of suflicient strength to insure reliableconfinement of the garments 39 within the chamber 33. Consequently, theadherent inner surface of the drum 10 provided by the membrane 30 iseasily and expeditiously renewed by reason of the flexibility of theside wall 23 and the quick-disconnect design aflorded by the latches 24.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a garment finishingapparatus and method for effectively removing lint and other extraneousmatter from bulk quantities of cloth garments, and concurrently raisesthe nap in a garment finishing operation. The apparatus insureseffective exposure of substantially all of the exterior surface of eachgarment to the lint removing surface of the drum during operationthereof, and does not require the attendance of a monitoring workman. Inaddition, the efficiency of the apparatus is easily maintained at anoptimum level by reason of the speedy removal of the adherent lintremoving and garment finishing surface provided internally of the drum.In view of its simplicity of design, the invention provides a highlyreliable and economical apparatus, previously unavailable in thecleaning and garment finishing industry.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what isconceived to be the most practical and preferred method and embodiment,it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scopeof the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosedherein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as toembrace any and all equivalent methods and apparatus.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. The method of de-linting a cloth garment having ,an exterior surfacecomprising the steps of providing a container affording an internalchamber and a tacky adherent inner surface, placing a garment withinsaid chamber, and tumbling said garment to effect contacting ofsubstantially all of the exterior surface thereof with said adherentinner surface of said container.

2. The method of de-linting a cloth garment having an exterior surfacecomprising the steps of providing a container affording an internalchamber and a tacky adherent inner surface, placing a garment withinsaid chamber, and rotating the container about a substantiallyhorizontal axis to effect tumbling of the garment and contact with saidadherent inner surface.

3. The method of claim 2 which includes periodically renewing saidadherent inner surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,401,771 12/1921 Gunby 13462,755,494 7/1956 Bredin 15104 2,759,860 8/1956 Pallos 1346 3,080,2633/1963 Conrose 134-6 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,625 1888 Great Britain.

MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

I T. ZATARGA, Assistant Examiner.

1. THE METHOD OF DE-LINTING A CLOTH GARMENT HAVING AN EXTERIOR SURFACECOMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING A CONTAINER AFFORDING AN INTERNALCHAMBER AND A TACKY ADHERENT INNER SURFACE, PLACING A GARMENT WITHINSAID CHAMBER, AND TUMBLING SAID GARMENT TO EFFECT CONTACTING OFSUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE EXTERIOR SURFACE THEREOF WITH SAID ADHERENTINNER SURFACE OF SAID CONTAINER.